Guest Speaker: Jim Steeg

Jim Steeg, who stepped down from his position as the San Diego Chargers’ Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President only two months ago, spoke to the SMBA ’11 class today. Steeg told us about his whirl-wind path from being a fan in Fort Wayne to being in the second MBA class at Wake Forest to being named Director of Special Events for the NFL to being with the Chargers organization the last 6 seasons.

Steeg spoke about his desire to work in sports and how he made his dream come true. He wrote every team and League and only heard back from the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Dolphins. He accepted a position with the Dolphins as a low-paid accountant, but leveraged that into a job as Director of Special Events by capitalizing on opportunities and making an impression with then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle.

During his time as Director of Special Events with the NFL, Steeg made the Super Bowl sports’ biggest event and upped the out-of-game experience for fans by introducing fan fests, pre-game activities, and being on the cutting edge in regard to media.

Steeg discussed the impact of Michael Jackson during the halftime of the 1993 Super Bowl and how he expanded a 3-hour game into a 6-hour event and then into a 4-day event (i.e. the NFL Draft). Then, Steeg was kind enough to answer student questions about the fine line between NFL and Hollywood spectacle, the current collective-bargaining agreement, the likelihood of an International Super Bowl, the Chargers’ new stadium, and much more.

SMBA ’11 thanks Mr. Steeg for coming in and sharing his incredible stories with us.